Umbrella
by Mischkia
Summary: A stranger named Dean shares an umbrella with Castiel and it leads to something more.


Castiel zips up his maroon hoodie, then his blue one, and draws both hoods up for good measure before stepping out into the rain. As he meanders down the sidewalk, he silently curses himself for not buying that umbrella he debated purchasing earlier. Portland is perpetually inclement contrary to what he had previously thought.

He pulls at his hoods and tips his head downward to avoid the brunt of the rain as he walks, but it still manages to get in his face. When he reaches the bus stop, Castiel expects to find the bus already there and boarding passengers, but instead he finds an empty stretch of road and a gray sky. He sighs heavily and wipes a hand down his face in frustration. The bus must have just left.

Castiel collapses onto the metal bench nearby, content to just wait for the next bus to come, before realizing his mistake. He immediately hops up, but the damage is done. His pants are soaked through. The frown etched onto his face deepens and he sits back down on the bench in defeat, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands.

Castiel stays like that for a while, the rain assaulting him in every direction. That is until it suddenly isn't. He looks up in confusion to find a plaid umbrella above his head, shielding him from the downpour. He follows the length of the arm holding the umbrella to a bright pair of emerald green eyes encased in long lashes.

"You looked wet," the umbrella owner explains, amusement evident in his voice. The man in question is-to be perfectly blunt-downright _gorgeous_. Even in the blur of rain, Castiel can see his sun-kissed skin and scattered freckles. His sandy brown hair is expertly spiked, but it appears soft to the touch, and Castiel wants nothing more than to run his fingers through it.

He doesn't realize he's been staring until the umbrella-owning man clears his throat and sticks out his hand. "Dean Winchester," he introduces himself, a hint of a Midwestern accent peeking through.

Castiel flushes in embarrassment, but takes the proffered hand and shakes it, "Castiel Novak."

Dean opens his mouth to say something else, but Castiel cuts him off, suddenly realizing his manners, "Oh, I'm being incredibly rude! Please, take your umbrella back." He lightly shoves at Dean's arm to make his point.

"Dude, 's fine, trust me," Dean responds, refusing to budge.

"I'm very grateful, Dean, but I insist you take it back," Castiel says stubbornly. "Besides, I'm already soaked, and if you take the umbrella back, you won't have to be-"

"I'm not taking it back."

"Why not?"

"Just take the damn umbrella."

"I couldn't possibly-"

" _Cas_."

"Fine," Castiel takes the umbrella, and only then does he realize how incredibly _strange_ this entire meeting is. Dean's a complete stranger, yet he's showing Castiel an utmost kindness. It's charming really, and it says a lot about his character, Castiel thinks.

He decides not to bring up the fact that Dean called him "Cas," even though he's found himself in numerous needless arguments before over how much he hates being called that, because, well, Castiel is starting to think he likes the way the nickname effortlessly rolls off Dean's tongue. His brothers would call him a hypocrite for sure, but if that ever happened that would mean this beautiful man would stay in his life, and Castiel certainly does not mind that one bit.

Dean takes a seat next to Castiel on the bench, and after a moment, an idea pops into Castiel's head. He scoots closer to Dean, undoubtedly much closer than is socially acceptable, but Dean doesn't seem bothered by it. In fact, it seems the opposite, judging by the faint smile playing on his admittedly full, pink lips. Castiel moves the umbrella over the both of them so that they're both sheltered from the rain.

Dean snorts a laugh, and Castiel raises an eyebrow, "What's so funny?"

"This," Dean replies, gesturing between them. "It's like one bad romcom."

"I thought it was going quite well considering." Dean seems taken aback by this response, but he quickly uses it to his advantage.

"You know what would make it even better?" he asks. Castiel's plastered to his side now, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh, and he can see the minute flicker of Dean's gaze down to his lips.

"Is that a flirtation?" Castiel counters with narrowed eyes.

"Is it working?"

Instead of answering, Castiel surges forward with an audible _oomph_ as their lips connect. Dean seems stunned for a moment, but he quickly recovers and starts kissing back, gently putting his hands on either side of Cas' face and bringing him impossibly closer. If the umbrella is momentarily forgotten during this exchange, that's okay; it's not like they were dry in the first place.

Castiel's the first to break away. He's got that barely-there smile on his face, and he briefly looks down, grazing his bottom lip with his fingers as if he can't believe what just happened.

"That was..." he begins, but trails off, unable to come up with an acceptable adjective.

Dean reclines back in his seat. "Yeah," he breathes, eyes fluttering shut in bliss.

The bus pulls up only a few minutes later. Dean holds the umbrella as Castiel boards, and then climbs on after him, briefly turning around on the steps to shake any excess water off the umbrella. The bus driver raises her eyebrows at their dampened appearance when she catches sight of said umbrella. Admittedly they should've been a lot drier than they were, but it's hard to hold an umbrella and kiss at the same time.

Dean and Castiel sit together towards the back of the bus, and Dean learns that Castiel is in Portland visiting some family, specifically his brother Samandriel, who's nicknamed Sam. Dean finds this a lot funnier than he should, and when Castiel asks why he's laughing, Dean tells him that he has a brother named Sam, too, and that he's here to provide moral support for him since he's working a tough case. (Dean's Sam is a lawyer.)

The two talk the entire bus ride. That is until Castiel is lulled asleep by the rain and uses Dean's shoulder as a pillow-not that Dean's complaining. Eventually though they start approaching Dean's stop, and he has to wake Castiel up, who apologizes profusely for drooling on Dean's flannel. ("I'm so embarrassed!" "Y'know, I think pink suits you." " _Dean_." "Sorry, not sorry.") Dean leaves Castiel with his phone number, a chaste kiss, and a promise to meet up again in the next few days.

Needless to say, Castiel's _really_ glad he didn't buy that umbrella.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** To clarify, Cas isn't wearing his traditional outfit in this fic. He's wearing the one in "I'm No Angel," which is episode three of season nine.

Prompt: "I was stuck in the rain and you actually shared your umbrella with me. I thought this stuff only happened in bad romcoms."


End file.
